Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode. As children, many of us were often asked

what we wanted to be when we grew up. We were encouraged to think big and reach for the stars.

We were told we could be anything if we truly set our minds to it.

And somewhere along the line, we may have started to feel the pressure of those potential futures.

Perhaps we pushed ourselves to get good grades or perform well in sports or activities.

At some point, we started to associate our worth

with how often we were succeeding. Though the adults in our lives often meant well when asking us

to define our futures at such a young age, many of us got the message that life is about what we can produce

and how successful we can become. We were ingrained with a belief that the road to greatness

is long, narrow, and strict. Getting good grades leads to getting into a good college,

which leads to getting a good job when you graduate.

Alternatively, performing well on the field leads to getting varsity letters, which leads to getting

a scholarship and training amongst the best of the best. No matter the specifics, we learned that

the opportunity for greatness has a time limit.

And if we haven't reached it by a certain point, it means we may have failed.

There's nothing wrong with aiming for the best, and at the same time, we must always remember

that the best things take time.

There are lessons all around us that teach us to resist this sense of urgency,

that we are not running out of time if we don't have a perfect idea or plan of who or what we want to be by a certain age.

Everyone moves through life at their own pace, and some of us take longer to set our roots

than others.

Patience, among other things, is something that oak trees know very well.

...